Christians worldwide advocate and pray for climate

International campaign, Renew Our World, expects tens of thousands of Christians from seven countries to join together in prayer and action to beat climate change. The campaign focuses on advocacy for clean renewable energy and sustainable agriculture for the world’s poorest communities.

Beginning on the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday 1 March, Renew Our World is calling on Christians across the world to join in prayer to help the world’s poorest people to flourish and be resilient in the face of climate change.

The Renew Our World campaign sees prayer as a powerful tool to launch and sustain this international effort. This long-term campaign aims to mobilise and inspire churches around the world to beat poverty and injustice, starting with climate change.

Renew Our World is being launched by Tearfund, Micah Global, TEAR Australia, Micah Zambia, EU-CORD, Peace and Hope International (Paz y Esperanza), asking governments to make firm plans to keep their promises made in the Paris Climate Agreement, and to invest in clean energy and sustainable agriculture.

Tearfund’s Director of Advocacy, Paul Cook, adds, ‘The Renew Our World campaign will put pressure on governments around the world to deliver on promises made in the Paris Agreement. Part of that agreement is to see energy renewed with clean power, agriculture transformed using climate-friendly techniques and food renewed by taking action on waste.’

Micah Global’s International Director, Sheryl Haw, adds, ‘It will take a concerted effort to enable our world to recover. As we each do our part and encourage others to do theirs, holding our governments to account to keep commitments made, we shall see change.’

The World Evangelical Alliance's Chris Elisara agrees, "In today’s world where the interrelated and chronic problems of poverty and environmental degradation affect billions of people’s lives, the Church needs some biblically sound and effective practical responses to offer its members. That’s why the WEA, and in particular its Creation Care Task Force, is supporting the Renew or World Campaign."

The Paris Agreement sets out a global action plan to start putting the world on course to address dangerous climate change. Through the Renew our World campaign, Christians will be praying that the 195 countries who signed up to the Agreement will limit global warming to as close to 1.5 degrees as possible and that greenhouse gas emissions will be eliminated.

Through the Renew Our World campaign, Christians will continue to press and pray for change in their countries and will combine internationally ahead of the climate talks this autumn.

Rev Andrew Bowerman, Co-Executive Director of the Anglican Alliance said, ‘The Renew Our World campaign will work alongside the Communion’s global goal to see resilient communities flourishing in harmony with creation across the globe. We are deeply committed to serving with others to enable this to become a reality.’

‘This is our generation’s choice,’ says The Right Reverend Nicholas Holtam, Bishop of Salisbury, and the Church of England’s lead bishop on climate change. ‘We can beat poverty, and to do that we need to beat climate change. Previous generations didn’t know about climate change; for later generations it will be too late.

This is our generation’s challenge. We need to rise to it. As followers of Jesus we already know we need to love our neighbours and care for creation. Lent is a good time to remember the spiritual and physical limits of consumerism.’